Some facts about Instagram: It was added to the Apple App Store in October 2010. It has a staff of 13 and has more than one billion photos uploaded to it as well as 30 million registered users. However United Leeds Endeavours understands that it makes no revenue. So why exactly has the social media giant bought it?
Firstly United Leeds Endeavours looks at what Instagram does. The service allows users to take photos on their smartphones, then apply a range of visual effects and share them through either Instagram alone or other social networks including Twitter and Facebook.
Both the founders of Instagram and Mark Zuckerberg have promised that Instagram is not going to lose its unique feel. The former saying “The Instagram app will still be the same one you know and love.” Zuckerberg added on his website “We need to be mindful about keeping and building on Instagram’s strengths and features rather than just trying to integrate everything into Facebook.”
United Leeds Endeavours keeps its ear to the ground when it comes to social media and the rumour mill has been going into overdrive on this deal. Many people are not happy by the sale and are worried that Facebook is simply buying Instagram to destroy it so that the service doesn’t overtake its own photo sharing dominance. Many users have taken to Twitter threatening to delete their accounts.
Why is everyone so unhappy? A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours believes that it comes down to dominance. “Facebook is becoming all-powerful. If the rumours are true, that it is simply buying Instagram to shut it down, then it’s a sneaky business move.”
“At United Leeds Endeavours we use social networks like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to interact with our clients customers. Smaller social networks are popping up onto our radar all the time. Facebook will want to maintain control over the social networking world and they may have to take down smaller competitors if they deem it necessary, business can be brutal.”
